Email Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples

∟Mozilla Thunderbird - Mail User Agents (MUA)

∟Thunderbird Configuration for IMAPS and SMTP

This section provides a tutorial example on how to configure Thunderbird to use IMAPS (IMAP over SSL) with normal password for incoming emails and SMTP with no authentication for outgoing emails.

If your mail server supports IMAPS (IMAP over SSL/TLS), you can also configure Thunderbird to use IMAPS for incoming emails.

For example, my email server, running Postfix and Dovecot, supports the following:

So here is what I did to configure Thunderbird with above server settings.

1. On my email server, make sure that Postfix and Dovecot are listening on those ports. Note that POP3 with SSL/TLS is also called POP3S. 

herong$ nmap -T4 192.168.1.100

PORT     STATE SERVICE
25/tcp   open  smtp
993/tcp  open  imaps

2. On my email server, make sure that the firewall is open for those ports. 

herong$ sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --list-all

public (active)
  services: cockpit dhcpv6-client http imaps pop3s smtp ssh

3. Now launch Thunderbird on my local computer.

4. Open "Set Up Your Existing Email Account" dialog box, by clicking "File > New > Existing Email Account".

5. Enter your name, email address and password.

6. Click "Configure manually". You see more settings.

7. Enter the following: 

INCOMING:
  Protocol:       IMAP
  Server:         192.168.1.100
  Port:           993
  SSL:            SSL/TLS
  Authentication: Normal password
  Username:       herong

OUTGOING:
  Protocol:       SMTP
  Server:         192.168.1.100
  Port:           25
  SSL:            STARTTLS
  Authentication: No authentication
  Username:

8. Click "Re-test". Thunderbird will try to reach the email server and do some connection tests.

9. If the test is passed, click "Done" to save settings.

10. If you see the "Thunderbird failed to find the settings for your email account" warning, ignore it. And click "Advanced config" to save settings.

Configuration is done. You should be able to receive and send emails now. Remember to override security exceptions caused by the self-signed server certificate.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction to Email

 Postfix - Mail Transport Agent (MTA)

 SSL/TLS Secure Connections with Postfix Server

 Dovecot - IMAP and POP3 Server

 SSL/TLS Secure Connections with Dovecot Server

 Email Client Tools - Mail User Agents (MUA)

►Mozilla Thunderbird - Mail User Agents (MUA)

 What Is Mozilla Thunderbird

 Thunderbird Installation on macOS and Windows

 Thunderbird Configuration for POP3S and SMTP

 Thunderbird to Accept POP3S Certificate Exception

►Thunderbird Configuration for IMAPS and SMTP

 Thunderbird Configuration for SMTPS Service

 Manage Security Certificates on Thunderbird

 Send Message Errors on Thunderbird

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB